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Online ad spending around the world is projected to grow by 13.4% to reach $113.6 billion this year, according to a revised forecast issued by MAGNA GLOBAL that takes a more bullish view of online spending this year than its previous forecast. Another new forecast, from ZenithOptimedia, projects a 15% annual increase in online spending between this year and 2015. Both groups see strong growth for social and mobile advertising around the world. Read more »

Based on data collected from Social.com across upwards of 1 million ad units and 114 billion impressions during the first quarter, Salesforce has released a benchmark report [download page] examining the performance (and cost) of Facebook ads across unit types, industries, and geographic regions. The study shows that telecom (0.919%) and publishing (0.79%) brands are leading the charge in click-through rates (CTR), although telecom brands are paying significantly more on average per click than publishers ($0.34 vs. $0.22). On the other end of the spectrum, dating ads suffer from the lowest average click rate, of just 0.027%. Read more »

Newspaper circulation around the world dropped by only 0.9% in 2012, as losses in North America and other regions were almost completely offset by gains in Asia, according to the latest World Press Trends survey of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, which includes data from more than 90% of the global industry's value. The study shows that more than half of the world's adults read a daily newspaper, with 2.5 billion doing so in print and 600 million in digital. While overall circulation figures were only down marginally, advertising spend fell by 2% in 2012, and by a more dramatic 22% since 2008. Read more »

ZenithOptimedia has released a list of the largest media companies around the world, ranked by media revenue, which it describes as "all revenues deriving from businesses that support advertising, not just the advertising revenue itself." While only 4 online media owners made the top 30 list, it's important to note - as the researchers do - that the figures pertain to the 2011 financial year, the most recent one that could be used for consistency's sake. Since then, online advertising has been growing by leaps and bounds. And yet, even in 2011, one digital company ruled them all: Google. Read more »

Marketing budget conditions have improved for the 5th consecutive month, details Warc [pdf] in its latest Global Marketing Index. The budget component of the index improved to a reading of 54.3 this month from 52.9 in April. Rather than following last year's pattern of diminished enthusiasm between April and May, this month's index rose to its highest value since the index's start in October 2011. (A score above 50 indicates a generally improving environment, while a score below 50 indicates a generally declining environment.) Read more »

North Americans are becoming more confident in spending, according to [download page] results from a Nielsen survey of consumer confidence and spending intentions. In Q1, 42% of respondents (all surveyed online) said they plan to spend on discretionary items this year, up from 36% the previous quarter. Within the US, 23% said they will spend on home improvement and decorating projects, a significant jump from 17% who responded that way in Q4 2012. Additionally, 22% are planning to take a vacation, up 2% quarter-over-quarter, with the same figures applying to out-of-home entertainment spending. Read more »

Global ad spending grew by 3.2% last year, but some sectors fared better than others, details Nielsen in further results released publicly from its Global AdView Pulse report. At the forefront of spending growth were the telecom and FMCG sectors, boosting expenditures by 7% and 6.8%, respectively. On the other end of the spectrum, spending by durables brands declined by 2.1%, while healthcare companies cut back slightly, by 0.7%. Read more »

By 2015, the internet should account for 23.4% of global ad spending, details Zenith Optimedia in a new forecast. That's up more than 5% points from last year's 18%, and comes at the expense of almost all traditional media, none of which are slated to see any growth in share of spending. TV's share will remain flat, at about 40%, as will cinema's (at just 0.6%), but newspapers, magazines, radio, and outdoor will see varying levels of declining share. Print, as expected, will be hardest hit: newspapers and magazines are the only media forecast to see a decline in expenditures. Read more »

44% of Americans say they share or like online content that others have posted on social media and other online sites, according to survey results from Ipsos. While that's right about the global average of 45%, certain segments of the population show a heightened tendency to share content. For example, within the US, women are about 56% more likely than men to say they share or like what others have posted (53% vs. 34%), while 18-34-year-olds are roughly 30% more likely than the average respondent to do so. Read more »

Traditional media continue to dominate global advertising spending, and most show no signs of falling off for the time being, according to new data released by Nielsen. TV, which commands the lion's share of global ad budgets, saw a 4.3% increase in expenditures for the year, reaching $350 billion. Cinema, radio, and outdoor saw growth rate above the 3.2% overall average, up 5.8%, 6.1%, and 7.7%, respectively. And while magazines (-1.6%) and newspapers (-0.2%) saw slight declines in spending, they still accounted for more than one-quarter of global spending. Read more »